Atiku Abubakar urges government to use Abuja cancer centre as isolation centre

A former Vice President, Atiku Abubakar, has asked the federal government to convert the International Cancer Centre along Airport Road in Abuja into an additional facility to isolate patients affected by coronavirus in the country.

Mr Abubakar gave the suggestion in a tweet via his verified handle, @Atiku, on Wednesday.

“With the increasing number of coronavirus cases in our country, I wish to make a passionate plea to owners of International Cancer Centre along Airport Road in Abuja to release it to FG for use as an additional facility.

“It is empty and isolated and can serve the need. In this time of National Crisis, all hands must be on deck. -AA,” he tweeted.

The 2009 multi-billion-naira International Cancer Centre, ICCA, an initiative of former Nigerian First Lady, Turai Yar’Adua, over time had been transformed into a cowpea farm, a 2017 investigation showed.

However, in the previous year, a similar investigation done by this newspaper also revealed that the centre has become an oasis for burglars, who frequently carted away power cables worth millions of naira from the centre.

Atiku, in his tweet, explained that the building is empty and can thus be utilised in the current situation as confirmed cases of coronavirus hits 51 in Nigeria.

As at 11:52 p.m. on Wednesday, the federal government announced five additional confirmed cases.

Lagos and the FCT have two new cases respectively and Rivers State confirmed its first index of the Covid-19.

The former vice president, whose son also tested positive to the virus, had earlier urged the federal government to provide N10,000 to 30 million Nigerian households as a measure to enable them to survive as the coronavirus takes a toll on the economy.

According to him, the money would assist Nigerians provide supplements such as foodstuff.

He had also pledged N50 million to support the federal government tackle the scourge.

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